First Chrony ever!

[toby]

I've been loading for about 30 years now and just got my first Chronograph, it's a used one I got from another member here in the classifieds and I'm actually kind of excited to run some various loads through it. I don't think I'll be surprised but if everything is what I think it is I'll be content since everything shoots great. One thing for certain there will be no changes made even if by chance it's running a bit hot. Hmmmm how do these things work?

[ExtremeX]

I waited about 5 years before getting one… after using it I thought to myself why in the world did I wait so long…

It’s a great tool to have.

[Enfield47]

I've been thinking about picking one up too. Looking forward to hear how it works out for you.

[Divernhunter]

Usually people are surprised to find their loads are slower than they thought.
I use mine all the time.

[Eljay]

They're handy and they've gotten pretty cheap.

I've seen a couple of chronos shot. Keep it - most of the makers will sell spare parts or have some kind of a trade in program.

[Magilla26]

I have owned a Shooting Chrony for about 15 years. I have never shot a post but the front plastic cover is cracked from getting too close to the muzzle blast. Angle of the Sun can cause reading errors. Great tool for load development.

[toby]

OK thanks guys and also is 10' the appropriate distance to place chrony in from the muzzle or is this just the standard?

[Lead Waster]

I think I might try the Magspeed bolt on chrony, looks less shootable and at an indoor range, seems more reasonable since you can't put anything past the shooting line.

[JohnCCW]

I've shot 2 of them.

[Bmfdez]

is the purpose of chrony just to measure velocity? why is the measurement of velocity so important? sorry for my noob questions.

[toby]

is the purpose of chrony just to measure velocity? why is the measurement of velocity so important? sorry for my noob questions.

If hand loading you need to know if you are pushing pressures while loading at maximum charges and velocities are a great way to get an idea. A chrony will also help develop better more consistent handloads along with I'm sure a bunch of other things. But what I noted is the reason I got one. I have been loading for many years by the book and the seat of my pants and never really knew where I was at as far as velocities and when loading wildcat cartridges load data is sometimes all over the place. Since I always load the same and RARELY change components I'll simply test what I have make some changes if necessary and go on with what I do.

[Eljay]

1. Some people need to know the velocity to see if their ammo makes some required "power factor" for competition.
2. Some people have something along the lines of a conversion cylinder where the maker has said to use ammo under 850 fps or similar. This is an imperfect measure versus pressure but it's better than nothing.
3. Some people just want to sanity check that their ammo is doing about what the load data said.
4. Some people doing load development might use the standard deviation or extreme spread of the velocities to look for the most consistent round.
5. If you don't have really good load data it gives you an imperfect sanity check that your interpolation or extrapolation from known data did what you thought it should do.

If you're just knocking out plinking loads it's not necessary but they're not that expensive these days and even if you can borrow one it's nice to do some quick checks. If you shoot somebody else's chrono you just bought it...

[stilly]

I've been loading for about 30 years now and just got my first Chronograph, it's a used one I got from another member here in the classifieds and I'm actually kind of excited to run some various loads through it. I don't think I'll be surprised but if everything is what I think it is I'll be content since everything shoots great. One thing for certain there will be no changes made even if by chance it's running a bit hot. Hmmmm how do these things work?

Point and shoot...


But be sure to aim a tad higher.

[ScorpioVI]

I have owned a Shooting Chrony for about 15 years. I have never shot a post but the front plastic cover is cracked from getting too close to the muzzle blast. Angle of the Sun can cause reading errors. Great tool for load development.

Oh good. I thought I was the only one dumb enough to do that. My Shooting Chrony lasted me for 15 years. Worked just fine with several rifles, and then it met my .300 Blackout pistol, cracked the front cover and not getting any read outs anymore.

[stilly]

BTW, you pee at 4-6 FPS depending on the time of day it is...